


Cherry Vape

by redactedwastaken



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Apex Games, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Vaping, apexlegends - Freeform, cryptage - Freeform, elliott and tae sit on a high structure and vape until 3am and i don't know how to tag that, elliott is sad and gay, tae doesn't know how to emotion or open up, the ship's shitty a.i. makes an appearance, this is a christmas gift for my friend, vape??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:03:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21851887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redactedwastaken/pseuds/redactedwastaken
Summary: Two bros, chilling on one of those cylinder structures vaping, five feet close because they're very gay... This was a one-shot gift for a friend of mine, and by god, I hope she enjoys it in the slightest bit. Because it's not great, it's kinda short and doesn't make complete sense, but it took forever.----Elliott goes to investigate why one of the legends, the newbie, has gone missing from the dropship late at night. Because he's a sad homosexual, he immediately changes from being smug about catching Tae to being extremely concerned and obviously catching feelings for him.----
Relationships: Bangalore | Anita Williams/Lifeline | Ajay Che, Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Kudos: 79





	Cherry Vape

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, if you're my friend who I wrote this for, Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Please enjoy this in some way. 
> 
> If you're literally anyone else, here's some cryptage content! They're not together, they're kinda just emotional and enjoying each other's company, and Elliott's very clearly falling for Park and trying to be casual and ignore it, which is probably how it'd actually go. Probably.
> 
> Enjoy! If you reeeaaally like it, comment and let me know. If you somehow like it enough to bug me to write more I totally will.

Cherry Vape

\----

The sky is absolutely stunning. It’s streaked with yellow and orange, red stars dotting the open atmosphere. For a minute, Elliott’s distracted by it, and he nearly falls to his death because of it. Don’t get him wrong, it’s really not that high up if his foot slipped over the metal latter piece he could probably catch himself, but his tight chest told him otherwise. 

Plus, he’s trying his best to keep quiet, because part of him wants to surprise who undoubtedly sits at the top of the cylinder. The ship was docked at this peaceful planet for the night, and due to its shitty A.I., it usually fails to alert when a legend disappears from it. Unfortunately for Crypto, it did this time, and Elliott was the one who slapped the blinking red light. He’d done this before when Anita and Ajay disappear to make out on other pretty planets, but after scanning around the ship and finding every legend present, his curiosity got the best of him. 

Which is why he was here now, his arms thudding on the side of the cylinder, as he finally reached the top. His feet are still perched on the remaining part of the ladder, but he’s more focused on the male in front of him, putting on the cockiest smirk he possibly could manage. Although, it quickly disappears when a puff of smoke leaves Tae’s figure. The hacker has his back turned to him, appearing to look at the sky, his jacket laid underneath him. 

It’s rare to see him without the damned thing, it was so big and comfy that Witt certainly didn’t blame him, but he was far too interested in what he looked like without it. While his eyes trailed over the relaxed shoulders, the rest of his body moved onto the cylinder, air forcing itself out of his lungs quickly when he realized how high up the legends actually were. He decided it’d be worth it, though, because if he had a panic attack before interrogating Crypto, he would be furious at himself.

“Come here often?” Is the first thing that leaves his mouth, the charming grin reappearing. Tae doesn’t move as if he’s desperately trying to ignore the holographic trickster; a small crackling noise heard as Elliott gets closer to him, coming from the vape he’s inhaling. “Can’t blame ya, it’s really be-b- buh- god, it’s pretty.” His voice falls into a whisper, just as he slides directly next to the other male, crossing his legs like a third-grade student and shoving his hands inside his thighs.

Yet again, the hacker doesn’t move or respond in any way. When Elliott pushes himself towards him to try to read his expression, he nearly gasps at the tears periodically tumbling down his cheeks. The lines disappear once they reach his modified jaw, obviously wiped away by a sleeve or hand. The hacker’s eyes are red, and even though he keeps sucking at his vape, his lips occasionally quiver. For whatever reason, one he doesn’t wish to disclose, this makes every fibre of Elliott’s being upset.

If his voice wasn’t soft enough before, it sounded cotton now. “....Rough night?” It makes him feel a little better when Tae moves, but his heart drops back down into his stomach when it’s just to wipe his face. Like Crypto realized he was being vulnerable, like he realized who was sitting next to him. Like he was panicking, trying to rid himself of evidence. He tries to move, synthetic fingers grabbing for his jacket as if he’s going to flee, but Witt’s own hands shooting out to grab and hold him still make him falter.

Elliott flinches when Tae yells. “What!” The Korean's shout is louder than he wanted it to be, his eyebrows furrowing and his mouth scowling, voice cracking when he repeats it. “What? What, what do you want?” Mirage’s brain almost has to reboot after it realizes he’s being yelled at. “Noth- N- Nh- Nada! Nothing, okay? I just want you to stay.” His tongue disobeys him, smacking against the roof of his mouth and messes with his attempts at speaking. “Just sit back down, let me talk to you, tell me what’s wrong.” Why is he doing this? Why is he arguing with someone he barely knows to vent to him? To stay around him?

Park was an interesting person, Elliott knew as much within two seconds of the male twisting his arm behind his back. Since then, the hacker has been around for a few months, he’s participated in their events and climbed the rankings in kills... He’s become a fantastic teammate, but most of the time he’s in his room. None of the legends has truly had the chance to learn about him as a person. That’s probably what he was going for, but it just made Mirage more and more curious. Damn, his mother always told him his curiosity was gonna kill him one day. He wouldn’t be surprised if Tae mustered up the strength and just absolutely threw him off the tall golden cylinder, he’d be severely injured if not dead when he reached the bottom. He… He was just so secretive. Elliott was an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid, he knew there was a reason for Crypto’s mysterious nature. So far all that he knew about the hacker was that he was super attractive and had no time for his shit.

And apparently he cried and vaped late at night, on very, very high structures. That was it.

But he also knew that hesitation crossed through Tae’s expression, and it gave Witt a determination he couldn’t describe. “Come on, man. I’m- I’m not like you think, okay? Talk to me, I swear. I won’t r- ra- I won’t rat- r- I won’t tell on you.” He was desperate to convince him to stay. His grip on Crypto’s jacket and arm loosened. “You’re talking to Elliott, not Mirage.” He barely murmured his reassurance.

Believe it or not, it worked. In fact, Tae Joon’s knees nearly collapsed under him when he sat back down, Elliott worriedly grabbed at him to make sure he’d stay safe. Of course, the Korean slapped at him like he was crossing some line, but didn’t comment. The two let time pass, focusing more on the sky and the soft noises of the wind flowing through the grass far below them than each other. Until surprisingly, an object was gestured vaguely his way. It was his vape pen. Being offered. Fingers grabbed at it after a pause, and eventually, the same clouds were leaving his own mouth. The vape tasted amazing, like cherries and red. Elliott decided he quite liked it, silently wondering if he should purchase himself a vape when he realized Tae was looking at him. 

Witt was a little relieved there weren’t any new tears on that pale face. Still had irritated eyes, but the flicker of an upturn of the hacker’s lip when he met his gaze made him quietly overjoyed. “Elliott, huh?” God, now that Mirage thought about it, it was pretty fucking late. He didn’t always sleep fantastically, even though he lied about needing his wonderful beauty sleep all of the time, but this was the most he’d stayed up in weeks. 

After he gave a nod of his head, he let his eyes shut and drowned out some thoughts. He couldn’t help it, he’d managed to convince Park to stick around with him and now the exhaustion was kicking in. Maybe that was the reason why, when the hacker scooted a little closer his way, he breathed in deep of Tae’s vape and.. Didn’t flinch, when a head laid itself on his shoulder. Crypto’s incredibly soft, raven locks spilt over his shoulder and prickled at the side of his neck. It was.. It was really nice.

\----

Think whatever you’d like to think. 

That’s what he’d told Ajay in the morning, when she’d drug him into the kitchen by his ear, determined to know why the actual FUCK he’d been out of the ship until 3 AM. Also, why the newbie, the most mysterious man in the world right now, was out there with him. He’d groaned in pain, slapping sleepily at her hands, due to her sharp fingernails digging into his lobe. “Hey, hey!” He’d yelped. “Spill it, Witt!” She’d insisted. It was difficult to tell whether or not she was scolding him or genuinely curious.

Either way, she didn’t get what she wanted. “I dunno! So-sm- suh- some- I needed fresh air. I dunno where he was.” “You were outtah here, and Hyeon just happened to be missing?” “Hyeon?” Elliott’s voice is deep and thick was sleep, squinting his eyes at the female legend, trying to pull himself together after being rudely torn out of bed. God, he hadn’t gone to bed until so late last night- or morning- and she had to do him like that? For a moment, he focused more on stretching his spine and waking up his muscles, more than her voice. “Crypto. Whatever. ‘is door is locked, and if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’mma start a’knockin.” 

“I’m telling you!” Mirage had defended, but he couldn’t resist the grin that spread over his features when he internally reminded himself of what’d actually happened. The two of them had eventually collapsed onto the top of the cylinder, spread themselves out to lay and watch the universe above them, not long after Park leaned against the trickster. They’d passed his vape between them until it ran out of juice, and it was mostly because Elliott wanted to brush his fingertips against Tae’s knuckles each time they did. 

About 10 minutes to 3 AM, Ells had felt his eyes begin to roll into the back of his head, and he’d hesitantly reached out to pat Tae’s arm. It’d gotten his attention easily, as he’d wanted. “Let’s go.” He’d breathed, voice barely above a whisper, nodding his head lazily towards the dropship. Tae Joon had closed his eyes for a second like he was trying to memorize every part of the moment like he really wanted to remember it before they both stood to their feet. Visibly terrified of the height, Elliott scampered down the ladder a lot quicker than Park, nearly falling on the last few pegs. Which is why Tae made this adorable little snort sound, laughing at his idiocy, and why he smacked Mirage’s elbow like a scold after he’d reached the grass. 

“Think whatever you want,” Elliott’s own voice scared him out of his recollection of the night. “I didn’t see him all night. T’was just me, and.. And my other mes.” He joked, gesturing his arm as if he was going to send out a decoy, the same action he did in matches. The medic rolled her eyes, and chewed on her lip, like a worried mother. “Fine, fine. But if you stay out that late again, I’ll have ‘Nita pelt’cha with grenades.” She threatened, pointing her finger close to his face for emphasis, but smiling back at him when he laughed and nodded. “Okay, okay! I’ll be good.” Technically, she couldn’t see the crossed fingers that hid behind his back.

But Tae Joon did as he left his room.

\----


End file.
